Personal Accounts
Members of Protect Wildlife share their personal experiences with animals in Alabama.
"I've lived in the south for my whole life. My favorite pastime is hunting. Not only is it a way to spend time with my family but it is time to spend in the woods 'unplugged.' However, there is a very large threat of poaching in Alabama. During the deer season of 2011-2012, I was a guest at a hunting camp. While riding in a golf cart being shown the land, my friend and I rode over a small bridge. We noticed a terrible smell as we rode over it and turned around to see what it was. When we looked under the bridge, we noticed 3 very large-bodied deer. We noticed that they had been there probably for a few days. We noticed that their horns had been cut off at the base and the total body had been dumped. They found the member who had not only killed the deer illegally-3 bucks in one day-but had also wasted the body just to get the horns. This was an example of 2 different types of poaching. The member was kicked out of the club- he had also already taken his limit of bucks for the season, so was found for another poaching charge. We need to do more to keep this from happening before it's too late. We need to do more to protect wildlife."
"A year ago yesterday, on my fifteenth birthday, my family and I brought home the kittens of a stray cat at my father's workplace. There were three of them. We did not intend to keep them all, but we did anyway. About a month later, we found a fourth kitten at the same place where we found the others. We didn’t know if this one belonged there, because it was found in a truck, so we ended up taking him home, too. We saved four kittens from being a burden on the community and from the life of a stray. My father also helps catch the stray cats at his office so the Azalea City Cat Coalition may fix them and release them so they don’t keep multiplying."
Click here to see a sampling of endangered or threatened species in our area.
Posters
1. Click here to see Poster 1
2. Click here to see Poster 2
3. Click here to see Poster 3
4. Click here to see Poster 4
5. Click here to see Poster 5
Click here to see a summary about wildlife conservation in Alabama
What are some problems that we face?
1. Over-hunting and over-fishing 2. Poaching (hunting illegally) 3. Careless destruction of habitats 4. Depletion of animal numbers because of over-hunting and decreased living space 5. Because of the population depletion, less animals to hunt and fish 6. Because rare species are harmed, species may become completely wiped out (either in an area or worldwide) and change the food chain and ecosystem
How can we solve these problems?
1. Report any suspected poaching 2. Become educated on laws pertaining destruction of habitats (like no-motor zones for sea grass beds, or throwing trash on wildlife reserves or elsewhere) 3. Provide or donate towards re-stocking programs to areas with low populations 4. Become educated about endangered species and help programs to boost populations
Protect Wildlife from Kelli Etheredge on Vimeo.
Personal Accounts
Members of Protect Wildlife share their personal experiences with animals in Alabama.
"I've lived in the south for my whole life. My favorite pastime is hunting. Not only is it a way to spend time with my family but it is time to spend in the woods 'unplugged.' However, there is a very large threat of poaching in Alabama. During the deer season of 2011-2012, I was a guest at a hunting camp. While riding in a golf cart being shown the land, my friend and I rode over a small bridge. We noticed a terrible smell as we rode over it and turned around to see what it was. When we looked under the bridge, we noticed 3 very large-bodied deer. We noticed that they had been there probably for a few days. We noticed that their horns had been cut off at the base and the total body had been dumped. They found the member who had not only killed the deer illegally-3 bucks in one day-but had also wasted the body just to get the horns. This was an example of 2 different types of poaching. The member was kicked out of the club- he had also already taken his limit of bucks for the season, so was found for another poaching charge. We need to do more to keep this from happening before it's too late. We need to do more to protect wildlife."
"A year ago yesterday, on my fifteenth birthday, my family and I brought home the kittens of a stray cat at my father's workplace. There were three of them. We did not intend to keep them all, but we did anyway. About a month later, we found a fourth kitten at the same place where we found the others. We didn’t know if this one belonged there, because it was found in a truck, so we ended up taking him home, too. We saved four kittens from being a burden on the community and from the life of a stray. My father also helps catch the stray cats at his office so the Azalea City Cat Coalition may fix them and release them so they don’t keep multiplying."
Click here to see a sampling of endangered or threatened species in our area.
Posters
1. Click here to see Poster 1
2. Click here to see Poster 2
3. Click here to see Poster 3
4. Click here to see Poster 4
5. Click here to see Poster 5
Click here to see a summary about wildlife conservation in Alabama
What are some problems that we face?
1. Over-hunting and over-fishing2. Poaching (hunting illegally)
3. Careless destruction of habitats
4. Depletion of animal numbers because of over-hunting and decreased living space
5. Because of the population depletion, less animals to hunt and fish
6. Because rare species are harmed, species may become completely wiped out (either in an area or worldwide) and change the food chain and ecosystem
How can we solve these problems?
1. Report any suspected poaching2. Become educated on laws pertaining destruction of habitats (like no-motor zones
for sea grass beds, or throwing trash on wildlife reserves or elsewhere)
3. Provide or donate towards re-stocking programs to areas with low populations
4. Become educated about endangered species and help programs to boost
populations